Our Sweet Boy

I have been doing very little blogging lately as the internet here is limited as to how much downloading we can do.  So to say it in words only, we are really enjoying our summer home here and our jobs as well.  It is so great to be close to family and friends.  We have been spending our days off relaxing, fishing, going to different Finger Lakes, taking photos of all the beautiful scenery in the area and hanging out with the kids. Only wish I could publish more of those photos, but guess that will have to wait until we get to our park in Florida in October.

On a sad note, two weeks ago we had to put our little buddy Jerry to sleep due to congestive heart failure.  While the right decision to make, probably the hardest we have ever had to make.  We feel such a void without him, and his brother of 13 years, Mickey, is still lonesome without him and just follows us from room to room (well, that is the 3 rooms that we have). 

We do have such sweet memories of Jerry.  Our favorite is probably this past season at BPV in Mission, TX.  Jerry just loved people (no use for dogs though).  He would take his walk there and go to all the sites where he knew the people had treats for him and would give him attention, especially our neighbors, Tom & Carol.  It is funny how Mickey who was dominant over Jerry is now becoming more like Jerry, very gentle and much calmer.

So here’s to you Jerry, may you run wild and free and get all the treats you desire you sweet boy!

Peaceful Park

We finally have new WiFi here at the park after a month with little or no service so I am finally able to blog again.  We can not believe that we have been here over six weeks already.  They say time flies when you are having fun, and even though we are working we are having fun.  Each of  us were working over 40 hours a week  but decided that was too much so we cut back to 30 hours a week and now have Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday off.  This allows us more time to explore the area and spend time with family and friends.
We enjoy our peaceful walks through the park, especially during the week when it is so quiet and even find time in the mornings to sit by the pond and listen to all the birds and bullfrogs and watch the fish jump.

There is even time to cast a line or two when the weather permits.


This weekend the park will be full to capacity since it is the holiday weekend, with many activities going on.  I think Ray’s favorite part of his job is following the hay wagon to make sure no little ones fall off.  No wait, that is probably second to getting a paycheck!

All Settled In

After only six nights on the road, we arrived at our new summer home, the Rochester Canandaigua KOA.  We were warmly welcomed by Victor and Kathy, the managers here.  Our site here is one of the nicest (aside from the premium patio pull-thru sites).  We have a nice back-in site with a small wooden patio with a view of the pond and the woods.  There are very few people in the park right now, with the exception of people passing through. Unfortunately it is still very cool and has been very rainy the past few days.

Our new site and new trailer

 

Views from our site

We arrived on Saturday and were able to get everything set up with the exception of the water, which had not been turned on yet in our section due to the cold weather (it has since been turned on).  We are the only work campers here (the others will arrive around the 1st of May) but we started working on Sunday.  After three days of working, I am happy with my progress of learning the reservation system even though I am told I will not have a sure feel of it until the end of the season.  I have also been busy stocking the store and doing some cleaning in the office.  Ray has been working with Victor doing large projects around the park to get it up and running, cutting trees, cleaning up brush, installing air conditioners in the cabins etc.  Once May starts we will be working almost forty hours a week, but that is okay because we enjoy the work and then we will be ready to take the winters off from working.

Sunday we had Lori & Greg out for dinner and Wednesday Raymond and Michelle came out.  It was so nice to finally meet her and she is a sweetheart.  We were so happy to see them all after being gone for six months and they are all so thrilled that we will be in Florida next year.

I also answered a call in the office Tuesday from someone looking to see if we had a site available.  Turned out to be Tim and Debbie Creaghan from our old park in Texas.  They had been traveling across Canada to head back to New Brunswick when the weather turned bad and there were no parks open.  They crossed into the US and drove along Rt. 90 until they came to this park. They had no idea we were staying and working here. They pulled in that evening and we enjoyed getting together with them for a drink and conversation.  It is amazing the friends you make and later run into when you are in this lifestyle.

Mickey and Jerry are loving the new park as well, and have even been going to the dog park since there are no other dogs here right now (that is, when it is not pouring out).  They are still trying to get used to the new RV, they seem to wander around like lost little puppies with Jerry looking for his old chair.  He sleeps in the corner on the floor so I will have to buy him a nice new bed.  Of course, Mickey has taken over the couch but has been pacing so much due to fear of the thunder and lightning storms we have been having. 

Looking forward to warm sunny weather and a great season here.

Journey Home

We left Mission, Texas on Easter Sunday and drove to Northeast Dallas RV park.  It was a long day but we wanted to get through San Antonio, Austin and Dallas on a weekend.  The park used to be a KOA so it was fairly nice.  We spent one night there and then headed to Tunica, MS where we spent three nights at Hollywood Casino RV Park which came highly recommended by several friends who have stayed there. We were a little disappointed, felt like we were staying in a parking lot and it was lit up like a baseball stadium.  Sam’s Town across the road is only partially reopened after being flooded out two years ago and have no internet or cable yet, otherwise we would have stayed there for $10.00 a night less.  Since we are not big gamblers, 3 nights was long enough to stay there.
We left Tunica with anticipation of looking at a new 5th wheel near Dayton, Ohio.  We spent the night at Hueston Woods State Park to be close to D & D RV Dealership. We pulled into the park around 5:00 and it was pretty cold out so we didn’t have much time to check out the park.  We did notice upon entering, a nice covered bridge.  The drawback to this park is that there are no water hookups.  They were still in the process of opening the campground but it was pretty crowded since it was spring break for the kids.  It would probably not be a park we would stay at again but the location was convenient.
We arrived at D & D’s at 8:30 the following morning, not knowing what to expect since the internet is not a true picture all the time.  Well, we were pleasantly surprised.  Not only was the RV everything it was advertised to be, but the people at the small dealership were great to work with.  Within 4 hours we had all the paperwork done, our belongings moved from one rig to the other and we were back on the road.

We spent one more night on the road, (it was 27 degrees that night) so we were glad to have the new rig which is much better insulated than the old one. Our last night we stayed at Presque Isle Passage RV Park in Erie, Ohio.  It was the only park we could find open yet along the route and it turned out to be a nice park. We would definitely stay here again if we were in the area.

Homeward Bound

After five months in Texas, we are looking forward to hitting the road again and heading back to Canandaigua, NY, our summer home and spending time with family and friends. While we thought that Texas would be our permanent winter home, after several seasons here we have found that we are ready to try Florida next year and take in different sites. (Not too mention it is 1,000 miles closer to New York). After all, that is why we have wheels.
ds and we were told if you climb the small hill in back you will have a view of the quarry.  Of course, there is still work to be done to it, driveway to be poured, grass to be planted etc. but it will be nice to have a brand new concrete pad, electric, cable, sewer, etc. Once it is done and we get there we can add to the landscaping if we choose by planting flowers or other shrubs or whatever we choose.  We love the Spanish moss they have there and figure it can’t be any messier than the Retama tree we had on our site in Texas.


We have met some great people here at Bentsen Palm Village.  Most will be moving on as well but I am sure that our paths will cross again.

Colorful Culture

Today we went to the Hidalgo Border Fest Parade with our friends, Vic and Marianne.  The theme of the parade was “Mexico” which is quite obvious from these pictures.  All the bright colors and costumes are a huge part of the Mexican Culture.
There were many colorful floats…..

Marching bands, dancers…..

Crazy cars….

Dancing horses…..

Bagpipers….. (not sure how they fit into the Mexican theme) but we loved them

Busy Month for the Birthday Boy!

It has been over a month since I have blogged and can not believe that we have been in Texas for over 3 months now and that we are already into the month of February.  January was a busy work month for us.  We hosted a New Year’s Eve party, four music shows, a pancake breakfast, two ice cream socials, weekly Margarita nights and coffee and donuts. Needless to say we are never bored.  We had a few weeks of cool weather so we have not done as much walking, biking and swimming as we would like. We have, however, been bowling with our team every week and really enjoy that. Maybe it is because we have the rowdiest team.  Our team is tied for last place, but we have a great time and Ray and I have been improving more each week.

We were hoping that being in the warm weather, we would be able to avoid the flu, but we were not so lucky.  We both had the stomach flu, Ray much worse than me, thus postponing his birthday for a day. 
We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors here.  They all got together and threw a birthday party for him with great food and drink.

Here’s hoping that February will bring some calm, relaxing days for us, filled with swimming, sun and happy hours with friends.